Tobacco-box



(No Modl.)

A. L. GRESHAM.

. TOBACCO BOX. No. 373,233. Patented Nov. 15, 1887..

WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

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UNITED STATES AUSTIN LUMPKIN GRESHAM,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF KINGSL AND, ARKANSAS.

TOBACCO-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 310,373,233, dated November 15, 1887.

Application filed April 5,1887. Serial No. 233,722. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUsTIN LUMPKIN GRESHAM, of Kingsland, in the county of Cleveland and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tobacco-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in tobacco-boxes, and has for its object to so construct the same that the tobacco while in sight will be protected from the atmosphere and from dust, flies, and sweeping, and wherein the tobacco in said box be as readily accessible as in the old style of boxes.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a perspective view of a box provided with my improvement, and- Fig. 2 is a angles thereto, as illustrated.

central vertical and longitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 is a similar View to Fig. 2, but with the frame B swung down and the top D at right angles thereto to form a shelf.

In carrying out the object of the invention the ordinary box, A, is employed, used for packing plug-tobacco. The top and front of the box are, however, left open. At the base, in front of the box A, a strip, a, is attached transversely, by screws, nails, or equivalent means, and to the upper edge of said strip a frame, B, is hinged, of a width equal to the width of said box and adapted to project upward above the top, the said frame being provided with a pane of glass, 0, or similar transparent material, whereby the front is covered, yet the contents of the box exposed to view.

To the upper inner portion of the frame B the top D is hinged, so as to fold down upon the inside of said frame and upward at right The said'top D is preferably made long enough so that when in its normal position as a cover to the upper portion of the ,box it will project beyond the rear, whereby the combined top and front is the more readily opened. The hinged front and top are retained closed by hooks d, pivoted to the outer edges of the top-engaging pins d, fastened to the sides of the box A, or vice versa, or by other well-known or equivalent means.

In operation, after the hooks are disengaged, the top is folded down out of the way upon the frame B and the said frame carried downward at right angles to the box A. The tobacco may then be detached, as in the ordinary box, the top D forming a support for surplus tobacco or for the cutting-knife. When through, the front and top are folded up, as aforesaid.

The object of hinging the top piece, D, at the lower end of its inner edge to the inner face of the upper end of theframe B is to allow the piece D to swing toward theframe B as said frame is swung outward, and thereby allow the top piece to clear the shelf, ordi narily just above it; secondly, when the frame is swung downward to a horizontal position, the top piece, D, may be folded upon the inner face of the frame, so as not to be in the way of the person desiring to remove the tobacco from the box; and, lastly, it allows the top piece to' form the shelf, as shown in Fig. 3. If the top piece were rigidly secured to the frame B, it would strike the upper shelf when the frame was swung outward, as these sh elves are ordinarily just a little farther apart than the height of the boxes, and the distance from the free edge of the top piece, D, to the hinges of the frame B is greater than from the inner edge of said top piece to said hinges. By this construction the tobacco is protected from damp atmosphere, which is frequently the cause of serious damage, and prevented from drying out from exposure to a dry, light atmosphere, thereby retaining full weight.

It will be observed that,while serving as an ornament, the tobacco is fully protected from flies, dust, and sweeping by the improvement at a minimum cost.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure. by Letters Patent, is

A cover for tobacco-boxes from which the tops and fronts have been removed, consisting in the strip a, to be secured to the lower too front edge of the box, the frame B, hinged at be at right angles thereto to form a shelf, subits lower edge to the strip a to swing outward stantially as shown.

and downward, and havinge glass pane, and AUSTIN LUMPKIN GRESHAM the top piece, D, hinged at the lower end of 5 its inner edge to the inner face of the upper Vitnesses:

end of the frame B, whereby when the frame I A. '1. SNEED, is swung outward and downward the top will \V. E. SMITH. 

